New Clownfish Breeder-Starting out questions

[Devnull]

First off I am new to breeding clownfish but have been in saltwater hobby for some time now. I purchased a pair of Ocellaris Clownfish off of the divers den at liveaquaria. This is my first purchase from the divers den but have received many great fish from liveaquaria in the past. The fish will be in a 10G tank that I use for quarantine from time to time while I finish the setup and cycle on a 29g that I plan to use as the breeding tank.

I am looking for opinions on bare bottom vs. substrate for the floor of the tank...I assume that in the long run that it will not make much difference to the fish, but I enjoy having a tank that is pleasing to look at even though it will be a breeding tank. Also the pair is fairly small so I am thinking it may take some time before they breed (hoping that they will) so I want their home to be as comfortable and natural as possible.

My current plan would be to use a crushed coral base with a few nice pieces of live rock and either a flower pot or tile.

Thanks for any recommendations, I have truly enjoyed stumbling through all the posts in the breeding section of this site and seeing everyone's great setups.

Blair

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Hello and welcome.. Maybe woodstock will chime in here soon... Or shoot her a pm.. she can prob point you in the right direction..

 

[Woodstock]

:hallo: Hello and Welcome to Reef Sanctuary Blair!

AWESOME!!! A marine fish breeder.. whohoo!!

Some like barebottom... but I would go with a fine aragonite sand bed of about 3" instead of a crushed coral substrate. Crushed coral traps ditritus very quickly and requires lots of siphoning to keep it clean. The fine textured sand bed requires less (or no) maintenance. Some people vacuum their sand bed (Like myself) while others just replace it every year or two... or never.

Do keep us posted on your breeding endeavors! I wish you success

 

[Devnull]

Thanks for the reply, I am excited to get started. I have just spent the last hour or so reading through your Picasso thread....Amazing. Congratulations on your success!

I think that I will go with your recommendation on a sand base, I have had pretty good luck with crushed coral but I am very careful to vacuum and dig into the base to keep any buildup from happening. From what I understand less is more when trying to get the fish to breed. The tank will be in my home office so it should get much less traffic than my living room tank which is bombarded by children all day long (my wife does home daycare). By the way my Picasso Trigger and Gold Stripe Maroon love to show off for those kids all day long.

Blair

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks
NIce! I would love to have a tank here in my office. Lucky you!

Think of how many future marine enthusiast your wife is making by subjected them to beautiful fish all day long They'll never be happy having guppies now

 

[Devnull]

Id have to agree. That the tank is one of the best daycare deductions we have...I love buying new "toys" for the daycare

 

[mothergoose]

Blair,
I with you on the deductions for the day care. I do the same thing hence my screen name and all the little beady eyes lookin at you in my avatar. The fish love the kids just as much as the kids love them. Ask any one of my three year olds the can say anemone better than the adults. We are in the process of setting up a 10 gallon FOWLR in the play area for them. Right now we only have one lonely damsel in there that hides behind the filter all day. The kids are going to help plan the purchases for the tank.
Anyway, good luck to you with the breeding.

 

[Devnull]

Update : The Clown Pair has arrived

Well timing worked out great today and the pair are in their new (temporary) 10 Gal tank. They will stay there until I get their 29G all setup and cycled. I have a feeling I might be waiting on these two for a little while as they are pretty small...the female is about 1 1/2" and the male is around 1". Anyone who has raised these little guys care to estimate on an approximate age...if that is even possible? Well enough chatter on to the pictures....






My 12 year old...going after the box with the scissors, he was more excited than me! -

Unpacking -

Acclimating -

Getting settled in -

Blair

 

[GSELLERS]

welcome to the world of clownfish....if you thught reefkeeping was addicting, wait til your clowns spawn its downhill from there.

estimate age: if they were sold as a mating pair then at least 9 months old

 

[Devnull]

There was no mention of them currently spawning...but that is OK with me. I am not in a huge hurry and if I have to wait 6 months or more that is no problem.

 

[vdituri]

I'm on 2 yrs and have seen no sign that my clowns have every spawned.
They get along fine and one is twice the size of the other so I definitely have a dominant female and a little male. Maybe one day.
She's about 2 inches and he's a little over 1".

 

[Premnas]

Hello Blair,
Good luck with your clowns. They look like captive bred ocellaris. Am I correct? PM me and I'll help you with any questions. I use rather unorthodox methods to keep and breed clowns that you might find interesting plus I'll send you hi res pictures of my breeders and fry at different stages of development.
Premnas

 

[Triggerjay]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I read somewhere that clownfish do not like BB tanks. I read that they feel insecure, and can become disoriented being able to see through the bottom of the tank?.. I think it was on MOFIB - Marine Ornamental Fish & Invertebrate Breeders - Marine Fish Breeding / Saltwater Fish Breeding / Marine Invertebrate Breeding ....

Jason

 

[Premnas]

I would agree. All my tanks except my present grow out tank, have at least a 2 inch layer of live sand. Every species of clown fish I've kept seems to enjoy kicking up the sand with their caudal fin. They then make a quick U turn and see if they've uncovered any food. Besides, I don't like the look of a bare bottom tank. Sometimes the clowns dig so deep that they expose the glass bottom and eventually algae will grow there and cover up the glass. Also, I do have the bottom of the grow out tank painted black but I've started adding some small pieces of live rock and soon will add a thin layer of sand from one of my tanks.

 

[Devnull]

Thanks for the comments everyone the tank in that picture was just a temporary home until we got their 30g tank setup and ready for them. Now they are in their new home for about the last 2 weeks and they seem to be doing great.

Right now we are pretty sure that we will be patiently waiting for these two for a while, I have new lights ordered for this tank that should be in this week. My plan is to turn this into sort of a mini-reef type setup with the clownfish only. Hopefully that will keep the tank bright and interesting while we wait.

 

[blueblue48]

OOH this looks good, ill be watching this because im setting up a 30g long reef that i want to try to breed clownfish in same as you.

 

[Devnull]

I have a new SunPod 30" 150W MH light that will show up sometime this week, I would like to use this tank to mess around with some SPS corals and my 12 year old really want to try a clam. I have been toying around with getting a new filter setup or building some kind of sump, but with such a small bioload I think the crappy Skilter that I was given will continue to do ok for now. Good luck to you blueblue...do you already have a mating pair or are you still looking to pick up a pair?

 

[blueblue48]

Right now im actually buying an overflow to get things started, the tank isnt filled up yet but should be in about 1-2 weeks. whenever that happens ill start to poke around for a pair.

 

[Devnull]

:cry1:

Bad news in our house today...after searching for our missing female I found her crushed and broken near the impeller inside a hang on back power filter that I was using for extra filtration. It didn't have a strainer on the inlet tube, a mistake I will not make again. She did not make it...very sad.

 

[Woodstock]

:cry1: So sorry to hear that!! :cry1: